Deals

Mirae Asset to buy W500b office building from Blackstone

[THE INVESTOR] Mirae Asset Financial Group is seeking to purchase an office building in London from private equity firm Blackstone, according to media reports on May 3.

The nine-story 20-year-old Old Bailey is priced at around 500 billion won (US$464.50 million) to 550 billion won. Mirae Asset recently signed a letter of intent, with plans to complete the deal in the first half of this year.

Mirae Asset Global Investments, the asset management arm of the financial group, has recently launched a 225 billion won real estate investment trust for the UK market, which will be used for the deal and the rest will be financed through a loan.

Mirae Asset has been ramping up real estate investments around the world, with its portfolio located in cities like Seoul, Shanghai, Sydney, San Paulo, Chicago and Washington D.C. It injected 770 billion won to buy three office buildings in Washington D.C. and 900 billion won for Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort & Spa, with its total real estate investment exceeding 12 trillion won.